Oct 16, 2018

Colorado hiker swept over cliffs by avalanche, drives himself to hospital

By Pete Thomas

A Colorado hiker caught in an avalanche Monday was swept over cliffs and carried 150 feet down the slope, but dug out and drove himself to a hospital.

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center published a description of the incident near South Arapaho Peak, stating that the unidentified hiker had suffered a broken pelvis.

“The avy season hit me by surprise today,” the hiker is quoted as saying.

The CAIC's description:

“A hiker left from the 4th of July trail head. He hiked up the Arapaho Pass and Arapaho Glacier Trails to about 11,500 feet. At that elevation recent snow became too deep to make progress and he decided to descend.

To avoid deeper drifts of snow, the hiker moved off trail and descended down a rocky, convex slope. At about 10:30 the hiker postholed through about four feet of drifted snow. He watched the avalanche fracture above and to the east of him. The majority of the avalanche ran through a gully to the east of the hiker.

“The avalanche swept him over several cliffs 10 to 15 feet high. He was carried about 150 vertical feet and injured. He hiked out and drove himself to a hospital and said he suffered "cuts, bruises, and a fractured pelvis. The hiker described the maximum crown depth as three to four feet. The slab was drifted snow from a storm on October 14, and the bed surface from an earlier storm.”

The accompanying image shows where the hiker became caught in the avalanche (green circle) and where the hiker ended up (red X). Most of the debris flow was in the gully to the right of the red line.